As I write into this blog and as my viewership grows, I'm starting to organize my posts into weekly columns. Saturday, as it's been for the past few weeks, I'll have the Weekend Wine Recap on the blog page. I'd like to have posts for different categories of reading I have on this page, as well. One of those categories, I'm developing, is indie- and self-published books.

My first indie author came by way of the blog hop I did over Valentine's Day weekend. I reviewed Meredith Bond's short story "Love Least Expected," which is also the prequel to her novel An Exotic Heir, the first installment of the Merry Men Quartet. When we were talking about that review and giveaway she mentioned her latest novel, Bridging the Storm.

In Bridging the Storm, Sir Arthur Dagonet is called to the home of Lady Tatiana Vallentyn, the high priestess of the Vallen, to help cure three of her young children from consumption. Any magic she has performed on them up until this point hasn't worked, and she knows Dagonet has power she doesn't have access to.

Dagonet is nearly a thousand years old, though he looks like a young man. While at the Vallentyn house he catches the attention of Kate Cherington, Tatiana's niece who has been living with them. The two are drawn together, but Dagonet's secret and Kate's ties to her aunt may threaten to destroy their relationship even before it begins.

At under 150 pages, Bridging the Storm is an engaging read, certainly a nice respite from a long day. I liked how Meredith incorporated the magical elements into the story. In some ways, I wished the magic was more at the forefront. Perhaps the other books in the Storm series: Storm on the Horizon and Magic in the Storm feature the magic more.

I'm interested to see where Meredith is going with the series, and how she follows these characters, and others connected to them, through the storyline. Bridging the Storm is a romance novel with a twist, and definitely stands out from others in its genre.

For more information on Meredith Bond, and on the Storm series, visit her website at www.meredithbond.com. Bridging the Storm is available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Google Play.

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THE BOOK ROULETTE

LONESOME DOVE,BY LARRY MCMURTRY

Disclaimer: I use a variety of resources to illustrate my ideas and opinions in the posts that I write -- including music, television, film and other books. Regarding spoilers, my policy is this -- I will not publish spoilers up until the following time periods have lapsed: One month for television episodes and music albums, one year for films and books.